Department of Biology
Graduate Research in Biology
The Department of Biology provides expertise in many areas of the biological sciences ranging from the molecular to the ecosystem. Although individual faculty members differ in their areas of interest, all recognize the constant changes occurring in the understanding of biological processes and the increasingly integrative nature of the sciences. The Master's degree program at Fresno State seeks to capture the dynamic character of the biological sciences through a combination of courses and a research-based thesis. Graduate students in the Master's program select a thesis adviser primarily based on common interests. The thesis, however, represents the unique research interests of each student as guided by the research adviser and thesis committee.
Faculty within the Biology Department address a wide range of questions spanning from the cellular/molecular level to the organismal/ecosystem level. Please contact individual faculty members directly for more information about their research programs and lab availability.
Current Faculty Research Projects
| Faculty | Currently Accepting Graduate Students | Number of Openings | Project Descriptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Francine Arroyo | Fall 2025 | 1 | Examing evolutionary trade-ups and trade-offs against antimicrobial resistance. Projects include: 1.Characterizing novel phenotypes that impact biofilm, motility and efflux pumps, 2. Isolating bacteriophage and identifying diverse targets of infection, 3. Comparing antibiotic resistance evolution between non-pathogens and pathogens. |
| Alejandro Calderon-Urrea | TBD | TBD | Our laboratory has developed products based on chalcones and peptides to control plant
parasitic nematodes. We received funding from NIH to uncover the molecular mechanisms
by which our chalcone products control nematodes. These projects are designed to address
the possible mechanism(s) that chalcones use to control nematodes: 1. Complementation tests and two-point mapping of Chalcone 17 and 30 mutations. 2. Chalcone uptake studies in C. elegans. 3. Response of known C. elegans mutants, affecting various pathways, to chalcone 17 and 30. 4. Phenotypic characterization of chalcone resistant mutants. 5. DNA sequence identification of mutant genes using an EMS-Based Deep Sequencing Mapping approach. 6. Metabolomics on chalcone mutants and WT nematodes exposed to Chalcones (project in collaboration with Dr. Krishnan in the Chemistry Department). |
| Karine Gousset | Spring 2025, Fall 2025 | 1-2 | Our laboratory investigates the proteome of tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) and filopodia. Students gain hands-on wet-lab experience in various cell and molecular biology techniques, including cell culture, western blotting, microscopy, protein knockdown, and mRNA extraction and quantification. A typical project involves selecting a protein identified in our previous proteomic studies and thoroughly characterizing its potential role in the formation and function of TNTs or filopodia. We seek proteins that can act as specific markers for TNTs and filopodia, as well as those that influence their formation, either by inducing or inhibiting them. |
| Alexandria Hansen | Spring 2025, Fall 2025 | 1-2 |
Projects include: 1. Mobile Making afterschool STEM project with Fresno Unified School District (FUSD). Dr. Hansen has created an afterschool STEM program for FUSD youth in grades 4-6. Fresno State students enrolled in Service-Learning classes visit school sites 5x each semester to facilitate a creative STEM activity that allows youth to make something (i.e., balloon race cars, light-up greeting cards, robots). Research investigates the impact of this experience on both the FUSD youth and Fresno State student facilitators through quantitative (surveys) and qualitative (e.g., observatons, student projects) data. Interested students can assist with the ongoing data collection/analysis and/or assist in developing creative STEM activities for youth. This project is funded by the National Science Foundation; some funding is available for student research assistants. 2. 3D-printing & Fabrication. This project seeks to explore ways that technology and fabrication equipment (i.e., 3D-printing) can be used to enhance life science education acros K-16+. For example, a student might prototype 3D-printing of differnet joints in the human body for use in educational spaces. While there is no funding available for this project, access to fabrication equipment will be provided. Previous experience working with fabrication equipment is preferred, but not required. |
| Cynthia Hsu | Spring 2025 (Tentative) | 0-1 |
Our lab is focused on using Drosophila as a model for understanding the molecular basis of long term changes in sleep and behavioral correlates of depression. Projects include: 1. The role of sensory stimuli (as a proxy for waking experience) in changing sleep drive, 2. Genetic screens in depression-associated genes to determine if they upregulate or downregulate sleep. |
| David Lent | No | 0 |
Not accepting graduate students. |
| Alija Mujic | TBD | TBD |
Projects include: 1. Fungal ecology of oaks ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada foothills and Mountain, 2. Secondary metabolism of antibiotic producing fungi, 3. Edible truffle cultivation in California pecan orchards (pilot studies). |
| Ulrike Müller | TBD | TBD |
1. Predator-prey interactions in the carnivorous plant bladderwort, 2. Equity and inclusion in academia, case studies in academic publishing, 3. Curating natural history collections. |
| Larry Riley | No | 0 |
Not accepting graduate students. |
| Joseph Ross | No | 0 |
Not accepting graduate students. |
| Justin Shaffer | Fall 2025 | 1-2 |
Our lab is focused on understanding how microbes influence health and sustainability in plant and human hosts. Research projects on plant hosts use both culture-based methods and high-throughput sequencing, whereas projects on human health are driven by analysis of large public datasets. Focus 1: Functional ecology of plant microbiomes in threatened ecosystems. Projects: 1 - Serpentine soils of California. 2 - Mangroves of Central America. 3 - Urban-rural pollution gradients in temperate forests. Focus 2: Roles of fungi in human health and disease. Projects: 1 - Asthma. 2 - Dermatitis. 3 - Cancer. |
| Hyunjin Shim | No | 0 |
Not accepting graduate students. |
| Joel Slade | No | 0 |
Not accepting graduate students. |
| Brian Tsukimura | TBD | 1-2 |
Climate change physiology, hormonal regulation of reproduction and invasive species. |
| Emily Walter | Fall 2025 | 1 |
Most of our research is done in postsecondary education settings (colleges and universities) and examines impacts of active, student-centered, and creative teaching and learning practices on student success. Our projects frequently prioritize how we can best support historically marginalized people in STEM, including women and people of color. Projects Detailed on Website. |
| Katherine Waselkov | Spring 2025, Fall 2025 | 2-3 |
Overall research goal: To discover the genetic and phenotypic basis of agricultural weed evolution. Projects include: 1. Comparing the physiology of related weedy and non-weedy species of amaranths (2 positions), 2. Floristics and natural history collection (herbarium) curation. Funding may be available for graduate students. |
| Hwan Youn | Spring 2025, Fall 2025 | 1-2 |
Identification of amino acids critical for the function of cAMP receptor protein (DNA binding and transcriptional activation), a bacterial transcription factor. Main research activities will be: 1. Creating site-directed mutants of the protein where the original amino acids are replaced by non-natural amino acids, 2. Measuring the activities (DNA binding and transcritpional activation) of the mutants. |
Our faculty have collaborated with researchers at a broad array of national and international universities and receive funding a range of federal (e.g., National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency) and state agencies (e.g., California Fish and Game Department, California Agriculture and Technology Institute, California Department of Water Resources ) along with a range of industry groups.
Student completing the M.S. degree are prepared to a diverse array of career opportunities in the biological sciences including continuation to a Ph.D. degree. Training in the biological sciences provides opportunities in a range of employment sectors including government, industry, and education. Specific employment areas may include laboratory management, quality control, environmental management and conservation, the biotechnology industry, health care research, ecology, agricultural production and inspection, pest control, and marine sciences among others.